Daryl Hall and
John Oates started peaking in the late 1970s, and made some of the greatest singles of the 1980s. The duo essentially defined pop/rock for the era, and it's fun to watch those songs come alive on 2003's
Live in Concert. This DVD resulted from a concert staged at John Jay College in New York City on March 24, 2003, for A&E's Live By Request television show. The immaculate yet organic production of
Hall and Oates' recorded work translates extremely well live, thanks in part to the tight five-piece band led by their longtime bass guitarist
Tom "T-Bone" Wolk. Viewers typically requested the mammoth hits and
Hall and Oates delivered terrific versions of Atlantic-era and RCA-era classics like "Maneater," "Sara Smile," "Private Eyes," "Rich Girl," "You Make My Dreams," "She's Gone," and "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)" that often stretched out the arrangements. Callers ignored songs from the late-1980s Arista era, but their unusual choices included the minor hit "It's a Laugh," the new song "Do It for Love," and the
Voices track "Everytime You Go Away" (turned into a chart-topping cover by
Paul Young). The biggest and best surprises are acoustic versions of "Out of Touch" and "Say It Isn't So" and a breathtaking cover of
Billy Paul's legendary "Me & Mrs. Jones," a cornerstone of the Philly soul sound that
Hall and Oates loved so much, and which shaped their style. DVD extras include five more songs ("Family Man," "Life's Too Short," "Getaway Car," "One on One," and "Kiss on My List"), a post concert interview, discography, photos, and the viewer phone call segments, which include a buzz from fan
Carly Simon. Separating those segments keeps the flow of music steady. As a thoughtful value-added bonus, the
Live in Concert DVD package adds an audio CD of the main 14-song set.
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Bret Adams, Rovi